Witness to history

Among the many society-altering benchmarks of the Civil Rights movement, the integration of Little Rock Central High School in 1957, the March on Washington in 1963 and the March from Selma to Montgomery in 1965 signaled pivotal moments in the fight for equal rights in the United States.

Among the many society-altering benchmarks of the Civil Rights movement, the integration of Little Rock Central High School in 1957, the March on Washington in 1963 and the March from Selma to Montgomery in 1965 signaled pivotal moments in the fight for equal rights in the United States.

Nancy Tice, a Jacksonville resident since 1978, saw all three first hand.

Tice was born on July 14, 1934 among the steel mills of Pittsburgh, Pa. She grew up with her mother, father (a World War I army veteran) and nine siblings (four brothers and five sisters). According to her, prejudice was kept far away from her as she grew up in a culturally diverse neighborhood.

“You couldn’t walk in the city without getting smoke in your face,” said Tice. “Our neighborhood was very integrated. We mostly had Jewish and Italian neighbors and we went to integrated schools. We were taught to treat others as we would want to be treated as we would want to be treated. We were welcomed into their homes. We’d even visit their churches and synagogues from time to time.”

As Tice grew up, so did the nation and its views on civil rights. The Brown v. Board of Education verdict of 1954 and Rosa Parks’ arrest in 1955 and the subsequent Montgomery Bus Boycott pushed the Civil Rights matter onto the center of the national consciousness. It was during this time that Tice, too, became involved in the movement while starting her career as a nurse (something she’d do for nearly 40 years). It was during those early years of the movement that Tice met Martin Luther King, Jr., while he was speaking at Forbs Field.

“(Dr. King) was a wonderful person,” said Tice. “He was very warm … he wasn’t a showman. He’d rather step back and let other shine instead of being up front. Despite that, he was a great orator. He was called to be a preacher.”

Tice would strike up a relationship with King that would last until King’s assassination in 1968. In 1957, Tice joined King and a group of demonstrators to support nine black teenagers in Little Rock, Ark., now known as the Little Rock Nine, attempting to integrate Little Rock Central High School. On Sept. 23 of that year, the students entered the school for the first time.

“It was not a good experience,” said Tice. “We didn’t really know what to expect. The tension was thick enough to cut it with a knife. We left before things really erupted.”

The Little Rock Nine did not complete their first day of school as a mob of segregationists loudly, and violently, protested the arrival of their new classmates. According to Tice, pro-integration demonstrators were itching to defend the Little Rock Nine and make sure they completed their day at school the next day; but King held them back.

Page 2 of 3 - “(King) told us not to go back,” said Tice. “He said going back would only make things worse and further divide the crowd.”

Tice’s experiences with segregationist policies provided a violent culture shock to her. Venturing below the Mason-Dixon Line meant leaving the integrated neighborhoods of her childhood into something she said she never experienced growing up, but millions of blacks in the south knew all too well: racial prejudice. Tice recalls a particularly difficult experience in a small bus stop outside of Memphis, Tenn. as she and her mother were on their way to a Civil Rights conference.

“We had stopped there and I went up to the front desk to ask for something to eat, and they pointed me to the back,” said Tice. “I started raising Cain, but my mother held me back. She told me ‘call down! These people will kill you.’”

Tice also witnessed the worst of the Jim Crow south in 1965 when she joined King and hundreds of other protesters in Alabama for the march from Selma to Montgomery. What resulted was what some call “Bloody Sunday,” as they were met in Montgomery by Alabama State Troopers.

“We didn’t know what to expect when we crossed the (Edmund Pettus) Bridge,” said Tice. “We were prepared for the worst, though. It was a peaceful march, but the shot water hoses at us and there were dogs at the end of leashes just ready to get at us. We were instructed, though, not to fight back. If anyone said they weren’t afraid, they weren’t telling the truth. It could have been worse, though. If we had responded to what they did to us, it would have erupted into a civil war.”

Tice, though, was there for what some consider being the highlight of the Civil Rights Movement: the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Tice said she was on the marble steps of the Lincoln Memorial as King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech, which Tice called a “spiritual moment.” According to Tice, the tension was still there, but the day was filled with joy and promise.

“Everyone was extra exuberant,” said Tice. “We still didn’t know what to expect. Things cross your mind like ‘what if the government turns against us and kills us all,’ but we were singing freedom songs and peacefully demonstrated what we wanted: freedom, equality and peace throughout the world.”

Tice said, though, that the promise and hope for a future of peace was shaken later in the decade, especially by King’s assassination and the nationwide riots that were tipped off nationwide, including her hometown. Tice said she was having lunch with a friend after work when the announcement came in.

“Everyone went crazy,” said Tice. “They started pouring into the streets. Lots of people were thinking ‘here’s a man promoting peace and look what happened to him.’ It took away the security some people had that non-violence was the right way to go. It happened to me, too.”

Page 3 of 3 - Tice said, though, that looking back on everything that has happened since those years, the progress the country’s made as far as racial equality is concerned. Tice said professional and social opportunities that couldn’t be dreamed of in her father’s prime years are now obtainable by people of all races, colors and creeds. According to Tice, that can be attributed to King’s message of non-violence and the willingness of individuals to stand up and fight for equality.

“I don’t think (King) would have been able to accomplish what he accomplished by going into battle and using violence,” said Tice. “Everything happens for a reason. We wonder where God is in disasters, but if we trust in Him, we will make it through. No one person can change the world. The only thing you can change is yourself.”

Christopher Thomas is a staff writer for the Jacksonville Daily News. To contact him, call 910-219-8473 or e-mail him at christopher.thomas@jdnews.com.